filters

by Deborah Ailman

Ashton has a gift... Simply put, she can read minds. Andrew Desmond personifies corporate evil. He uses his billions to manipulate not only the business world, but people as well. When he learns of the power Ashton possesses, he will stop at nothing to get it for his own.

Genres: Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 2015

About the author

Deborah Ailman is a native New Yorker who lives with her husband of thirty years in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. She is a successful positive thought counselor and ‘filters’ is her debut novel. Deborah used some of her personal experiences with people she met while growing up in Manhattan for inspiration for the setting and characters of the book.

She has successfully authored two other books “Everything I Wanted to Know About Positive Thinking I Learned from My Cat” and “Step Up And Let Go- Healing The Hurts From Your Past.”

Reviews

[Cade Jay Hathaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance Writing 2.0
"filters" Freshens a Staid and Formulaic Genre

By Cade Jay Hathaway

Take a pinch of Jackie Collins, add a tablespoon of Danielle Steel, and mix in a heaping helping of Nora Roberts and you'll have an idea of the Manhattan style that is depicted in Deborah Ailman's 'filters' (small 'f' intentional), a modern day tale of power, deceit, betrayal, and yes, a little romance on the side too.

Ailman's novel tells the tale of a young woman named Ashton who was born with the ability to read people's minds. She knows what you've been thinking, she knows just what you feel. Her special skill wreaks havoc in her life, and ever since she was a child her mother has warned her to use her 'filters', not only to mask giving herself away, but as a way to clear her mind of the jumble of others' thoughts clogging her brain.

She rebels, as young people tend to do, and this causes her sturm and drang of the worst kind. She drinks too much, is promiscuous, and her life has no definite direction. She works at her parents' neighborhood grocery and is content to live in her self induced holding pattern. The situation changes when she is hired as an assistant to multi-billionaire industrial scion, Andrew Desmond, a spoiled, sociopathic corporate bully who learns of Ashton's gift and wants to harness it for his own ends.

Desmond is a heartthrob in the vein of Christian Grey, and while the sex he engages in throughout the book never crosses into the realm of S&M bondage and leather whips, it is certainly erotic enough to whet the appetites of the romance crowd.

The settings are meticulously researched and presented—the author obviously knows her New York—and the subplots and supporting characters are well devised and important to the plot. In a serial genre such as Romance, 'filters' is a standout. It is clear that careful thought was invested in the story structure and the characters. Deborah Ailman is a deft scribe, and her book will make for some very enjoyable summer beach reading. If I have one criticism, it's that she doesn't appear to trust her readers to understand the obvious. She tends to over-explain and wring out every minor detail—especially when describing settings or character motivations—until the washrag is dry. Having a thesaurus on hand when she writes her next installment might be a good idea as well. But overall, 'filters' is a good read and is sure to please its intended audience.

'filters' by Deborah Ailman is available at amazon.com in both hard copy and kindle versions, and at all of the usual online booksellers.

[Roxann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

From the cover: Ashton has a gift... Simply put, she can read minds. Andrew Desmond personifies corporate evil. He uses his billions to manipulate not only the business world, but people as well. When he learns of the power Ashton possesses, he will stop at nothing to get it for his own.

I liked this book. It was an interesting read. The beginning of the book was about the main two characters from very young children until they meet. At times Ashton’s character ‘bothered me’. I know as a child it is hard to keep quiet, but as an adult people learn. I didn’t like that she just stated things she read from another person’s mind. It was rude. The people around didn’t say those things aloud-they were not being rude. I’m also certain it would be frustrating to really be a person who can read other’s minds and not be able to shut it off. But Ashton had the help of an aunt (who also could read minds) and still she was just rude to others. Then there is Andrew-what a ‘jerk’ of a person. Didn’t like his character, but yet there was some evidence that he still had some goodness inside of him (but he usually didn’t let it come out). The story was a little predictable and the ending was clear, but yet somewhat unbelievable with the characters left all getting together and forming one big happy family. Even though I didn't believe the ending it still is a good book to read.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Filters” quickly impresses readers by turning literary stereotypes on their heads!

This inventive novel is a thoughtful character study. It centers on an evil, money hungry womanizer who mistreats his employees, yet somehow attracts a wonderful woman that is much too good for him. Thanks to her literary skills, however, Ailman makes the reader believe that this is indeed possible.

Infused with subtle fantasy elements that support but do not overpower the story, Ailman creates realistic characters, and makes her readers truly care about them. Her pacing is brisk, and this book is difficult to put down. This delightful, surprising tale is highly recommended!

[Piret · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book goes thoroughly into the two main character's life, from the moment they were born up until the moment they met which helps you understand more why the characters act the way they do. I did get confused from time to time because each character had another character linked to them with a similar name. Like Allison, Ashton, Sarah, Susan.
In overall the book was good, beautifully written and the story took unexpected turns and had a clear ending, as well as leaving it open for the next generation of Ashton and Andrew.

[Lori H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in a giveaway. Although it held my interest, I found the story to be very predictable and the characters were not very interesting. The book is fraught with numerous punctuation errors and wrong words, which was very distracting. The author tended to make a circuit in telling what each character was doing, and after a few times of this, I felt as though it was like shuffling the cards in a small deck...eventually each character would be revisited until the cards were all played...then more shuffling. I did not find the last few chapters to be very believable.

[Kaitlyn Turner]

I won a free copy of this novel through Goodread's First Reads Giveaway, and am very excited to be adding it to my reading list!